1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sealer for sealing a sealed portion, and to a sealing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, at a portion to be sealed (hereinafter also referred to as “sealed portion”), such as a joint portion or an overlapping portion between panels of the hood, doors, etc. of a vehicle body, there are a gap between the panels, a portion on which undercoating is insufficient, etc. For this reason, a sealer is applied to make such a portion watertight and rustproof, whereby the sealed portion is sealed. Such a sealer is made of a resin paste, and typically, applied to the sealed portion with the use of a gun-type applicator as described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-1259. In the assembly in which a member 101 and a member 102 are put together as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, for example, the sealed portion to which the sealer is applied is a portion 103 in which the members 101 and 102 are put together, and the sealer is applied all around the portion 103 (the portion indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 10).
Application of a sealer is performed in a coating process in which a vehicle body is coated, and in the coating process, the step in which the sealer is applied is performed after an undercoating step (electrodeposition coating step). In addition, a drying step, in which the sealer is dried and cured by heating, a second coating step, and a finish coating step are performed after the sealer application step.
In the sealer application step, the sealer is applied to a hinge portion, which is a sealed portion to which the sealer is applied, for making the hinge potion watertight and rustproof. The hinge portion is provided at an open/close mechanism portion of the side doors and the back door. With regard to the hinge portion installed on the back door, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, a sealer 105 is applied to a portion 113 in which the vehicle body 111 and the hinge 112 installed on the vehicle body 111 are put together.
As described above, the sealer applied to the sealed portion of the vehicle body is applied using the above-mentioned applicator. In some cases, a finishing operation is performed in which the applied sealer is brushed with a brush to adjust the shape of the sealer. When the sealer is applied to the hinge portion of the back door, for example, it is problematic that the hinge portion of the back door is located at a ceiling portion of the vehicle body and therefore located at a high position, and in addition, the space for operations, such as application of the sealer and brushing with a brush, is small because there are stepped portions on the vehicle body near the portion on which the hinge is installed.
Specifically, because the working position at which the sealer is applied is located at a high position, it is difficult for an operator to perform the operation, standing on the floor. Thus, it is necessary for the operator to perform the application operation, standing on the step placed on the floor. In addition, because it is difficult for an operator to see the portion to which the sealer is applied, the operator has to take an unnatural posture to check the quality of the sealer (check the shape of the applied sealer, for example). Thus, the operation tends to be troublesome, and the fatigue caused by the operation tends to be significant. In addition, around the hinge portion, the space for the operation in which the sealer is applied is small, and the application of the sealer with the applicator and the finishing using a brush are not easy, and it is therefore necessary to spend much time to secure the quality of application of a sealer.